"Getting
Dressed in Edo" Graphics Gallery

text & line drawings, copyright 1997 by Lady Melisande
of Hali

This is a scheme of a kimono, laid out flat. And very flat
they do lie. There are no curves or lumps built into them, so
that they fold up neatly for storage.

This detail of a 19th century woodcut (like all the color graphics,
from Japan: A History in Art) displays the back as
well as the front of the average hairdo, the common obi bow (note
that here the first part of the obi has been folded narrow where
it wraps around the body). Note the geta both women wear instead
of flat sandals.

This photo from the Japanese Tourist Bureau book on kabuki
(as are all the B&W shots) clearly shows a long trailing sleeve,
often referred to in Japan as a wide sleeve, and where the wrist
hole is on it. See, too, how the padded hem spreads out, though
in this case assisted to perfection by a stage hand in black (kokken).

Hakama & Nagabakama (also tabi)

In this scene from Chushingura, nagabakama play a critical
role. The young samurai has just stepped forward on one knee to
pin the older man's trailing leg, preventing him from leaving.
This is about the maximum length nagabakama ever reached.

This formal scene contrasts the dress of the imperial court
nobles with that of the samurai. The nobles are those in full
trousers with little hats tied on, and tunics whose sleeves are
sewn to the body only in their lower circumference, leaving a
gap through which the kimono is seen. The samurai wear hakama
(the guards and sword-bearers) or nagabakama, and their clothes
are marked with the big white circles of mon. You can see them
from the front in the top section, and from behind in the lower
section.

This is the chayu (first-class courtesan), with her array of
golden tortoiseshell pins and her obi tied in front. She wears
a fringed ornament over the obi bow, as well. The chayu, on geta
a foot tall, would parade through the red-light district, hand
on a maid's shoulder for balance, with an entourage of pimps,
servants, and young courtesans in training.

Travelling clothes

This detail of a painting of the women who fought in the Satsuma
rebellion against the Meijii restoration (19th C.), shows many
features not normally found in fashion-plate woodcuts. The women
have tied back their sleeves as any samurai does before action,
given a chance. Their kimono are hitched up with a soft red sash,
tied in a bow on the hip, and their calves covered with red gaiters
or leggings, not pants, the sort worn for travel on foot. Their
hair is worn loose, showing the length to which it usually was
grown, rather than gummed into a formal arrangement, and must
be held off the face by white scarves.